ESPEN Congress Barcelona 2012 Dietetic session Monitoring of food intake in hospitalized patients: do we need a new tool (OP009) T. Knaan (Israel)
ESPEN Sep. 2012? Evaluating the validity of the "Categories Method": a new method for self-report assessment of daily calorie intake: A pilot study Tzachi KNAAN, Clinical dietitian M.Sc RD Maccabi Health Services ISRAEL Pierre Singer. Intensive Care Department, Institute for Nutrition Research Petah- Tikva, Israel Ronit Endevelt. Maccabi Health Services, Tel Aviv, Haifa university school of public health, Haifa, Israel
Why count calories? The ability to estimate the calorie content of meals is important for reducing food intake Food and calories journals are a major factor in weight maintenance * One of varied therapeutic tools for clinicians for weight management Epidemiological research purposes * Wing RR. Annu. Rev. Nutr. 2001
? Patients want to check their energy balance as if they check their bank account 28% try to keep tracking their calories most of the time or every day * But Only 9% of people (in the USA) can accurately estimate the number of calories they eat in a day! * * International Food Information Council (IFIC) Foundation 2012
What are the common methods to count calories? 1 Serving size Calculating calories item by item
To help protect your privacy, PowerPoint prevented this external picture from being automatically downloaded. To download and display this picture, click Options in the Message Bar, and then click Enable external content. How many calories are (really) in those dishes? Energy bar Spanish tapas Common Breakfast Diner Breakfast Chinese dish
Can the USDA database help us? NOT SURE White rice (copy from USDA database)
2 Exchange groups * *Diabetes Diet, from the mayoclinic.com
What is the proper food exchange groups for every meal? Energy bar Spanish tapas Common Breakfast Diner Breakfast Chinese dish
3 The Categories method A new concept for counting daily calories
The Categories method The concept one categorical score per meal 1. Each category represents the TOTAL calories consumed in a meal 2. Display the average value of the category 3. Sum up the total daily calorie intake. Category 1 2 3 4 5 Caloric Range of a meal Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Average (100) (350) (650) (1000) (1500)
Example #1 Which category is most suitable for this breakfast? A cup of coffee with cream and glazed donut Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category No. 2
Example #2 Which category is most suitable for an apple? Correct. The right answer is category no.1 Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200
Example #3 Which category is most suitable for this lunch? Grilled Chicken breast with side of rice and beans Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category No.3
Example #4 Which category is most suitable for this lunch? Spanish tapas Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category No.5
The pilot study Objective: To evaluate the validity of self-caloric evaluation, the Categories method with the 24 hours diary recall Design: Cross-sectional study Participants: Members and employees of Maccabi Healthcare Services (A Health Maintenance Organization, HMO)
Inclusion Criteria:? Age: 21-65 Body mass index (BMI): between 20-45 kg/m2 Exclusion Criteria: Clinical dietitians / Nutritionists
Research protocol Part 1? Face to face 24 hours recall on 1 occasion by 2 well trained interviewers (30-40 minutes) Using USDA 4 stages interview method*: 1. Quick review of the meals 2. Food items that may be forgotten 3. Time and place of each meal 4. Assessment of food quantities and dimensions using photographs published by the Israeli Ministry of Health * Moshfegh AJ. Am J Clin Nutr 2008
Assessment of food quantities and dimensions published by the Israeli Ministry of Health
Calories content were obtained from the Israeli's Ministry of Health software called Tzameret
Cont. Research protocol Part 2? Participants were asked to estimate the calorie category of each meal by the Categories method (5 minutes) Category Caloric Range 1 2 3 4 5 Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200
Cont. Research protocol? Part 3 Self-completion questionnaire (5 minutes) Anthropometry values - height and weight Age and gender Education Previous experience in weight loss level of knowledge on calorie content
The study received ethical approval from the Assuta Hospital Systems ethics committee, Tel-Aviv. ClincalTrials.gov identifier: NIH #NCT01408784
Results? Characteristics of participants: N=29 Gender Age BMI (kg/m 2 ) Mean ± SD 27f, 2m 44.2±11.4 25.9±8.7 Range 23-63 20-45
A self-report of knowledge level on calories content? Number of subjects 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 low medium high very high Level of knowledge
Distribution and average of actual vs. estimated total daily calories intake 1SD median 75% 25% Actual calories Categories method T-test Mean ± SD 1584 ± 556 1671 ± 600 N.S. (p>0.05) The actual total daily calories intake and self-estimate by the "categories method" wasn t significantly different
Relation between actual calories intake and estimate by the Categories method The correlation between methods was high (r=0.73, p<0.05). Estimated calories intake by Categories method Pearson correlation r=0.73, p<0.05 Actual calories intake by 24h recall
The difference between the Categories method and the Traditional method Δ Total daily calories = ( Categories -actual),(%) 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Overestimation zone Underestimation zone 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 Participants
Actual vs. estimated calories intake per meal? n=167 meals Mean ± SD Range (kcal) T-test Pearson correlation Actual calories Estimated calories 291 ± 277 295 ± 263 41-1898 100-1500 N.S. (p>0.05) r=0.85 (p<0.001)
Reliability on choosing the right category per meal? n Correct categorization Underestimation Overestimation n=167 meals 136 (81.5%) 12 (39%) 19 (61%) 1. The percentage agreement between self-estimation ( categories method ) and 24h recall was 81.5%. 2. As expected*, participants tend to underestimate rather than overestimate calories content of a meal by choosing a lower category level. * Weber JL et al. Eur J Clin Nutr 2001. Wansink B. et al Ann Intern Med. 2006 Schoeller DA et al. Can J Physiol Pharmacol. 1990
Conclusions The categories method might be a reliable and accurate? method for counting calories It makes it easier to track any given meal even to those who are not so familiar with the caloric value of a product
Implications of the categories method Encourages patients to track their daily energy intake in a fast (5 min), practical and non-obsessive way? Therapeutic tool for clinicians, dietitians, health professionals etc. Even those that are not familiar with the world of calories can easily use the method May be efficient tool for epidemiology research
Limitations of the Categories method Assimilation of a new language Requires some knowledge in the "caloric world Additional evaluation is still needed Lack of additional nutrition intake data i.e. Nutrients/vitamins etc.
You should try! Excel file and the Poster (PP221-MONDAY) can be downloaded through? my LinkedIn: Tzachi KNAAN Thank you
Example Which category is most suitable for this lunch? Chicken wrap with side of French fries Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category No.3
Example #4 Which category is most suitable for chicken pot pie with creamed spinach? Correct. The right answer is category no.4 Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200
Example #5 Which category is most suitable for this Dinner? Mixed salad with ranch dressing,pasta with shrimp & scallops and vanilla ice cream Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category No.5
Example #6 Which category is most suitable for half a pint of draft Beer and a handful of pretzels? Category 1 2 3 4 5 Calories range Less than 200 201-500 501-800 801-1200 Above 1200 Correct. The right answer is category no.2